


I don't use my head... I use my heart

by Meneth221b



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Nebula (Marvel), F/M, everyone must protect nebula, fluff no one asked for, gamora and nebula, kraglin has a tiny crush, nebula deserves the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-07 21:39:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15228423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meneth221b/pseuds/Meneth221b
Summary: Just some Nebula and Kraglin fluff. it seems the internet doesn't have much stuff on this pairing and i'm glad to help out with that. Anyway, this is my first time posting fanfiction online. i hope i get better at it in the future.





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

* * *

Nebula _wasn’t_ a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. _Never_. She could never be one of those weirdos. Nevertheless she had to admit that she had a soft spot for her sister but not for the captain, the dog, the bug woman, the tree and the bald dumbass. The Ravager who gave her a spare ship was one of them. This puzzled her but she reasoned that it maybe because of the captain. She put her ship on autopilot and leaned back, having gathered enough intel to plan her schedule for about a fortnight cycle. She had planned her further actions carefully, making sure she didn’t waste any time. She went over it several times but couldn’t fill in a three day gap.

Now, giving herself a moment, she closed her eyes. What can she do for three days? Her hand went to cup the back of her neck before it massaged a spot. Predictably, her fingers found a chain around her neck. _Of course_ , she thought. She lifted it up to pull the pendant on it from between her breasts. She studied it the way she had the first time she saw it. It was a crystal and it shone blue, a darker blue and a bit of purple, if one observed it intently. It worked as a painkiller. She didn’t exactly know how but she heard there was an herb inside the crystal that functioned as a painkiller. It was tiny but it worked effectively for her. It was a gift from the Ravager, Kraglin. He was good with guns as all Ravagers are supposed to be. The last time she’d seen him, he was mastering the yaka arrow but in vain. It was funny even for her.

When he handed the pendant to her she asked why he was gifting it to her to which he replied, “Uh, I found this at Knowhere, thought of you ‘cause of the colours. It’s sorta like a painkiller for the wearer.”

She listened to him mumbling nervously with her patented scowl. Then she asked, “How much did it cost you?” Kraglin fumbled with his jacket nervously looking down.

“I…uh, bargained,” he explained, looking up in her eyes which were narrowed for a moment or two. “I thought it’d give you more strength to fight against Thanos,” he said, choosing his words carefully. It was… considerate of him, she thought. She gave one final look to the crystal then wore the chain around her neck. She pushed the crystal under her vest.

“Thank you. That is thoughtful of you,” she said.

“It is? Uh, I mean, you’re most welcome, Nebula,” he said and she nodded to him. She was a stranger to the concept of gift giving and an even bigger one to someone remembering her. She looked down, perplexed. Fortunately, Gamora entered the cockpit and the others followed. Kraglin was never afraid of her though he did appear to be nervous. He was never rude or grumpy which meant he was easier to talk to. Gamora was too emotional and too protective when it came to Nebula and Kraglin talked less but significant. On the last trip, he had asked about her further plans with interest as they gazed ahead into the galaxy. She had told him and then there was comfortable silence. She noticed he had tried talking to her more and more. Why? She was here to see her sister, that’s all. She didn’t give it much thought. He talked to her nicely and honourably and she was okay with it. He helped her around way more than she found necessary. She could rarely refuse because of the nervous little friendly smile on his face. She felt something- impatience. She didn’t know what for.

A thought entered her mind. Should she? She pondered over that question a million times before deciding she could tolerate the idiots for three days. Her hand went for the comms but withdrew. If she wished to contact the guardians, she had to do it subtly. She knew well which planets they frequented. Berhert, Xandar and some other planets of the nova empire. All she had to do was show up close enough to the location of the Quadrant. She rerouted her ship and leaned back again for a quick shuteye.

Then, she was in the quadrant. She was striding towards a door urgently. She didn’t know why. She opened the door and barged in. It was Kraglin’s room. Kraglin was standing beside his bed fidgeting with some machinery in his hands. His eyes shot up and he smiled. “Oh hey, Neb,” he said, walking to stand in front of her. “How can I help ya?” she walked closer to him. She couldn’t control her movements in her dream which slightly annoyed her. She helplessly watched what the dream version of her was about to do. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer. He looked scared as he stuttered to get some words out. Dream Nebula sensed this for her cybernetic arm reached for the back of his neck, loosening the grip on his jacket collar. Then the thumb of her flesh arm came up and traced his bottom lip. She took a breath and leaned in.  

Nebula jerked in her chair. What was that? She never dreamt of such things. Let alone about the Ravager. She sat there breathing heavily. The dream was very vivid. Why? What did it mean? How dare he call her ‘Neb’? But most importantly, would the dream Nebula continue her agenda till she and Kraglin were lying on his bed, naked and sweaty if she wouldn’t have interrupted them? Well, dream Nebula knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. So to answer her own question: Yes. She straightened up, rubbing the sleep off her eyes, switched off autopilot and grabbed the controls.    

The Quadrant slowly took off after a much needed fuel refill. Gamora stood behind Peter and drummed her fingers on the back of his chair. Groot was playing around with Drax beside her. Mantis was asking way too many questions to Rocket and he muttered the answers while rolling his eyes, Gamora or Peter’s glare stopping him from snapping at her. Kraglin wasn’t in the control room. They started to hear a faint whistle way behind and assumed he was working on the yaka arrow.

Currently, he sat working on controlling the arrow to write the alphabet. Peter had suggested that. He was working harder than before. He stabbed Drax with it a little less and he’d practice by drawing things with the arrow to amuse Groot. He was slowly fusing in with the other Guardians. He kept himself cleaner; he had to do something about the glares that Gamora gave him as she scrunched her nose in disgust. He believed that she was a nice lady. _Keeps Pete in check_ , he thought. He shrugged that thought away and concentrated on the arrow. He frowned thinking how the arrow had been absolutely useless on the battlefield. The arrow dropped down on the floor. Thankfully he had enough skill with the guns Rocket developed. He grinded his teeth with frustration. _You can’t let Yondu down, Kraglin_ , he spoke to himself. He was distracted by some commotion in the control room. He stood up and entered the cockpit to see Gamora standing in front of Rocket, locking eyes with him.

“She’s family, Rocket. I’m going to have to need you people to behave,” she said.

“Hey, what’s all the trouble about?” he interrupted and Gamora looked away.

“Nebula is docking in in thirty minutes or so,” Peter answered, plainly.

“Oh, great,” Kraglin replied, nodding. “Cool.” He slipped out of the control room without anyone noticing him. Behind him, Gamora told Rocket to check her ship as soon as she landed. She herself went into the kitchen to see if she could make something for her sister.

Meanwhile, Kraglin dashed into his cabin with immense and checked himself in the mirror. He ran a hand through his thin hair and licked his lips nervously. He flattened the collar of his Ravager jumpsuit and dusted the jumpsuit itself. He then proceeded to pace nervously wondering how to greet her, trying out ‘hey Neb’, ‘hey Nebula, had a good journey?’ and ‘Hey, Nebula, how did the Thanos killing go?’ He’d never attempt the latter in his life. He groaned. Why was he doing this? He had no chance. _She is like the deadliest and the prettiest woman I’ve ever known_ , he thought. _Her ears and eyes were so cute. Yes, cute, like the rest of her_. He had given up on avoiding such thoughts long ago. Yes, he had a crush on her and if he shared it with the other guys on the crew, they’d probably laugh at him, be scared for him or look at him funny. To diffuse the tension building up in him, he decided to play with little Groot. They never had babies on the Ravagers’ ship and Groot was nice to hang out with even though he didn’t understand a word the tree spoke. The others would translate his words for him. He whistled softly so that his arrow would follow him out of his room unceremoniously. 

Twenty minutes later, Peter opened the hatch and Nebula’s ship entered the Quadrant. Gamora hurried off to greet her sister and the others followed. Groot sat on Kraglin’s shoulder. He’d grown bigger but not much to not fit on his shoulder. He stopped at the end of the hallway to see Nebula hugging her sister. She was in the same Ravager red suit. _Ravager_ _red really looked good on her_ , he thought, smiling.  Then Gamora kept a hand on her shoulder and asked, “How have you been, Nebula?”

“I’ve been good, Gamora,” she replied with just a hint of a smile on her lips.

“I am Groot!” the little tree on Kraglin’s shoulder yelled and he flinched. The sisters and the rest of the crew turned to him. He didn’t understand what Groot was saying. Rocket came to his rescue.

“He wants to hug Nebula.” This wasn’t a surprise at all. He had seen Gamora and Nebula hug sometimes and seen the sisters speak through video calls nicely. He had come to the conclusion that the blue warrior was not a threat to Gamora.

Kraglin nodded at the racoon. He walked to the sisters and when he was closer, he took Groot off his shoulder and handed him to Nebula, wordlessly. Groot excitedly climbs on her arms and reaches her neck. He hugs her face and she looks like a less emotional mix of confusion and nervousness. “He likes you,” said Mantis, beaming, as always. Nebula nodded to Mantis and Peter and Drax who were standing beside her. Her big black eyes met Kraglin’s grey ones for a brief second and then looked away almost shyly. She slowly and softly petted Groot’s head. Gamora stood there beaming way too much for Nebula’s preference.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've mentioned an alien race below that i had read in a Peter/Gamora fanfiction but I don't remember the writer. Also I hope you like the end. i'll probably update if i write again about this pairing.

Kraglin had to be careful. He couldn’t let Mantis make even the tiniest physical contact with him. Not when Nebula was around. He was on the lookout 24/7. He didn’t want to be in the situation Peter was in. Drax had told him all about it. He had laughed it off then but it dawned on him now that he was in a similar situation after realizing he has a huge crush on one of Thanos’ daughters. So he hung out with Peter or sometimes, Nebula. He roamed around the ship, his arrow in its holster. He peeped into the weapons room and saw Nebula. “Hey there,” he said entering the room. Nebula was inspecting a gun that Rocket had customized when he stood next to her and she shifted a little away.

“Hey,” she replied.

“Your ship is ill maintained. Rocket and I were checking if it needed any repairing,”

“Funny, thoughts on ill maintenance are coming from a Ravager,” she said. He spotted a smirk on her face.

“Now a Guardian, if I may correct you,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets. He lifted up his own firearm and smiled at the weapon. Then put it back in its place. “How’s that hand of yours?”

“It’s alright,” she said, going to the other side of the table and examining a blaster. “How’s that arrow of yours?”

On one side, he appreciated her asking him a question to keep the conversation going but on the other, he didn’t want to talk about his incompetency with the yaka arrow. “It’s… alright,” he stuttered. “Anyway… heard you and your sister are working it out?” she turned to him and glared. “What? Is that question off limits?”

“She’s my… sister. I come to visit her sometimes,” she stated, her eyes back to the blaster in her hand. Kraglin felt he was being invasive. He slowly backed away to the door. “You got somewhere to be?” Nebula asked, not looking up. Kraglin straightened up, looking at her.

“Nah,” he said, shrugging.

“Good.” He took a moment to walk and stand beside her again.

***

“Mantis, pass me the bowls please,” said Gamora. It was dinnertime.  She took the bowls from the empath and set it on the table. Peter and Kraglin were still in the cockpit. Drax was almost done preparing for the meal when Nebula entered the dining area. Groot was playing on the table while shouting ‘I am Groot’s to Gamora and the others. Nebula sat on the table in front of a bowl. Rocket entered the room with a gun in his hand. Gamora spotted him and her eyes narrowed.

“Rocket, no guns at the dinner table,” she said as he hopped on one of the stools and put the gun on the table.

“C’mon Gamora. This ain’t even the real stuff,” he said. Nebula picked it up.

“It’s nice. Seems good for backup,” she said, taking a closer look at it.

“Hell yeah. Light weight too.” She hummed in approval. “I’ll keep a couple in your ship if you want.”

“That’d be great,” she said as she slid the gun across the table but on the way was stopped by Gamora who caught it and kept it on one of the top shelves so that rocket could not reach it.   

Drax carried the pot to the centre of the table and Peter and Kraglin slipped in. Kraglin sat in front of Nebula, beating Drax to the seat. Mantis shuffled next to her. Everyone settled down and started eating while Peter and Kraglin continued their chatter about their days as Ravagers.

“Krag, you have to admit. I was a great wingman for you guys,” said Peter and Kraglin snorted.

“Wingman, alright. Quite the opposite, man,” he put a spoonful in his mouth and swallowed the soup. “You were bad at being a wingman because it always ended in situations like- you scaring the girl away by telling bad stories ‘bout us, the girl getting all over you and us having to drag you out of the situation so that at least one of us could get laid.”

“Hey, could you not?” Peter said, glancing at Gamora. “Don’t dig up my past, alright? I’m a better man now. And what about you?”

“What ‘bout me?”

“I saw that Xandarian woman making eyes at you when we were refuelling the ship,”

“What’s that gotta do with this?” he put another spoonful in his mouth and gulped. “I’m done with all that, Pete.” He took another spoonful. “Besides, ain’t nobody prettier than Nebu-” halfway through the sentence, he realised what he had said and choked on the soup, coughing hard. He felt Gamora, Peter and Nebula staring at him while Mantis pushed a glass of water at him, clueless, much like Drax and Groot. Rocket burst into laughter but stopped immediately as Gamora shifted her glare to him. Kraglin looked up at Nebula as she gaped at him. He drank the water. “I- I think I’m done.” Kraglin stood up. “Great soup, Drax,” he said as he gave one of his awkward smiles to Drax and walked off. Drax thanked him.

Nebula quickly finished her bowl and lifted it off the table when Mantis chirped in. “Wait, let me get that,” she said. She handed the bowl to the empath. While doing so, their hands accidently touched and Mantis gasped, eyes widening. “You feel-” Nebula snatched the bowl from her and covered her mouth with her other hand, getting up.

“Do not continue that sentence if you want to live,” Nebula said and Mantis whimpered. Gamora’s eyes widened as she stepped between them. She first turned to her sister.

“She won’t speak a word of it if you don’t want her to. I give you my word,” she said, softly and with utmost seriousness. Nebula backed off a bit. She then turned to Mantis and nodded. “You won’t, right?”

“No, I won’t” said Mantis, shaking her head at Nebula. Gamora returned to her seat and so did Nebula, looking down. Mantis placed the bowls in the sink. Gamora rolled her eyes, looked at Peter and mouthed the words, “Am I a babysitter?” Peter smiled sympathetically and reached his hand out across the table to take hers.    

***

Next morning, Kraglin yawned and entered the kitchen to see everyone scrambling around the cabinets to get themselves their preferred breakfast. Peter and Gamora had an early breakfast and were already in the control room. Kraglin walked to the cabinet that contained some chips, mentally noting to stay away from Nebula for the day. He was so stupid for blabbering about Nebula being pretty. She had made no attempt to talk to him. He was half relieved half anxious about that. He leant on the kitchen platform and watched Nebula’s back as she sat on the table and ate her breakfast.

“Hey, Kraglin!” said Mantis and Kraglin jumped.

“Mantis.” Her big eyes and wide smile made him think, ‘how can a person look _that_ cheerful in the _morning?_ ’ He was about to say something when she interrupted.

“Who are you looking at?”

“Nobody.” Groot, who was on Mantis’ shoulder giggled. Mantis joined him.

“What do you guys want?” Kraglin grumbled.

“Well you should know that-” Mantis was interrupted by Groot.

“I am Groot!” he exclaimed.

“Oops, Groot. I can’t tell you anything. Sorry Kraglin,” she said. Kraglin rolled his eyes and sighed when the ship’s speakers came alive.

“Alright, Guardians,” Peter announced through the speaker regally. “Let’s not forget that we have a job to do. We’re en route to the moon of Contraxia. Drax and Rocket, please come in the cockpit. Kraglin, Mantis, you guys need to check and retrieve the guns and swords for us. Nebula, who the hell am I to tell you what you should do? And Groot, do whatever you want; just DON’T get off the ship. Am I clear?” Groot nodded aggressively. Everyone else listened to him for a moment and then immediately went back to stuffing back their mouths with food.

“Seriously guys. Make it quick,” added Gamora. “We’re closer than you think.”

The guardians scampered away to do their assigned jobs.     

***    

The Quadrant landed on the almost wrecked moon. The hatch opened and they all, very well armed, walked out on the land of the moon. Mantis stayed back with Groot. Nebula was caught smirking. She was enjoying her free time but if she wasn’t using it to kill someone then what was the point?

Peter scanned their surroundings and then proceeded to walk in the direction of heat signatures. The job was simple- take out the rogue zotoans that were a nuisance to the Nova. At the moment, they were hiding in their secret den on the moon of Contraxia.

Out of all of them, Rocket seemed fiercest. Okay, maybe Drax and Nebula as well. Soon the guardians came to a stop at a building. Gamora looked up and whispered, “First floor.” On their way up, Drax and Gamora took care of the guards with minimum effort and at last they were at the huge main door. Guns, swords and blasters at the ready, Peter shot through the door and then kicked it open.

“It’s show time, Guardians!” he yelled. _So unnecessary,_ thought Nebula. Nobody behind Peter needed any cue to start shooting or stabbing. Nobody needed any instructions or guidelines now. Gamora and Nebula fought in a very similar way and in this situation, side by side. Rocket and Kraglin made a lot of noise with their weapons and their mouths. While Drax and Peter made little noise and had learned to watch each other’s’ backs. The zotoans were great fighters but if you think Gamora didn’t already research their fighting strategy, you’re wrong.

At the moment, Nebula was fighting off men with her electroshock batons. Two batons to their necks and they dropped dead to the floor. Another one was killed by her when she sensed someone behind her. She was about to turn when a knife appeared on her neck. _Why would you even try?_ She stabbed her baton in his right thigh and he backed off. She turned and saw a huge zotoan. He roughly attacked her with the knife again. She blocked his attack and stabbed a baton in his stomach. He flinched but didn’t back off. She ducked when he attacked again with the dagger and touched the baton to his dagger holding wrist. The knife flew away from his hand which she caught. The man took out a bigger sword from behind his back. She didn’t wince. She blocked his sword with the hand that carried the baton and the knife. The pressure went on his knees as he resisted but eventually he was on his knees.

He took that opportunity to pull her legs and knock her off. She lay beneath him as he tried to curl her arm to her neck so that the baton got closer to her neck second by second. She had super strength. It was only a matter of seconds when she’d have an upper hand, push him back and kill him in a creative way. She had to. She just had to…

Then she heard a sharp low whistle. She didn’t have time to register what was happening when the man who pointed a knife at her throat stiffened and almost fell on her had she not rolled to the side. She stood up hurriedly and saw a tiny whole in his stomach. Then she realized. The yaka arrow hesitated after its first kill then picked itself back up and went across the room. She looked around to see the zotoans dropping dead to the floor one by one and a red line of laser going through them. Peter’s first thought was Yondu. But that couldn’t be. He looked around with confusion.

“Hope ya don’t mind me taking all yer kills,” spoke Kraglin. They turned to him who was sporting his goofy smile. He stuffed the arrow in its holster, beaming. At that point, a man who was lying behind Kraglin lifted up his gun and aimed for Kraglin. Nebula, in a swift motion, lifted up a gun from the floor and shot three shots behind Kraglin. He turned to see the man covered in purple blood. He turned back to Nebula. “Good. That makes us even,” he said, shrugging.

She walked to him and said in her hoarse voice, “Not yet.” She stood in front of him- closer than he was used to. She leaned in and he thought she was coming in for a hug. But instead he felt her soft lips against his and froze. Her hands were on his collar pulling him closer. It took all his mental faculties to unfreeze and kiss her back. His hands gently placed themselves on her waist.  

Everyone else gaped at the sudden change in the scenario. One minute they were killing zotoans and the next they were watching Nebula kiss Kraglin. Gamora glared and the others were thankful that the glare wasn’t directed at them. Things were running around Peter’s brain. _How did Kraglin learn to control the arrow so expertly? Why is he watching Nebula kiss him?_ _Wait. Of course_. He remembered what Yondu had said about the yaka arrow. “I don’t use my head to fly the arrow, I use my heart…” he quoted his dad. “Of course,” he said in a whisper. “He saw her get hurt.” Gamora looked at him her brow furrowed. Slowly the tension released as she fully comprehended the situation.

Nebula broke the kiss to see Kraglin staring at her with wide eyes. She hoisted the gun she was holding on her shoulder as Kraglin tried to get some word out of his mouth. “What?” she said as she gave him one of her half smiles. Half but sincere. She turned and he followed as they neared the spot where the others stood. Gamora turned to look at Nebula when Kraglin turned to talk to Peter, Drax and Rocket.

“See, boys. That’s how ya get the girl and kill the bad guys,” Kraglin said smugly. Drax started laughing when both sisters turned to him.

“I heard that!” they yelled simultaneously.                


End file.
